You are here: London

I fell in love with London walking from my slip of a hotel room to a reception in Bloomsbury square on an early March evening that could have been May. Exuberance is the word for what I felt. I tend to be suspicious of love at first sight (why, actually?) so I hasten to say this was not my first encounter. I've spent many a page there with the likes of Mr. Dickens and Ms. Austen as well as one memorable winter weekend with my friend whom I'll call London here in honor of her much longer love affair with the city. This time, though, I fell hard. My literary memory merged with my reality--in this case a fine thing--and it was like the rush of the first paragraph of Mrs. Dalloway, except evening, not morning. Everything else I saw that weekend only intensified my crush. Little things like this sign:

And these trees:

Plus, I'm sure you've heard the tired saying that X city or country is great except for the Xers? Emphatically not the case in London. London and Londoners, a synergistic jackpot. I took Mr. Poe with me on a pub crawl (knew he would enjoy himself) and was charmed when he was mistaken for Mr. Whitman by some friendly folks at the Pineapple:

By the way, you can take your very own Poe out for a stroll:
 http://outofprintclothing.com/

And while I'm making endorsements, in London I also debuted the pink clutch (which crossed the Atlantic twice before landing in my sweaty palms--but that's another tale). Fabulous. The zipper pockets can be on the outside (for access) or inside (sleeker) and it hangs divinely from the wrist. Light as a feather.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/HomemadeBags